Radish Greens Chimichurri

Do you have "radish greens remorse" every time you toss out delicious looking radish tops? Good news - it doesn't have to be this way! The green leafy tops of radishes and many other vegetables such as turnips, beets, and daikon are perfectly edible and delicious. You can use them as you would other green leafy vegetables, though radish greens in particular can be a little fuzzy and benefit from a bit of processing such as chopping, blending, sautéing, or the addition of an acid. 

Eating "root to leaves" with sliced radish, avocado, and radish greens chimichurri rye toast.

There are a lot of different words for somewhat similar green sauces: chimichurri, salsa verde, gremolata, chermoula... and at first I deliberated over what to call this particular green sauce. I settled on "chimichurri", as it has a similar combination of vinegar, garlic, and green that you find in traditional chimichurri, just with radish tops in place of parsley and oregano. This sauce can be made with pretty much any edible green that would otherwise be discarded, even wild greens such as dandelion or plantain! It can also be adapted in numerous ways - try adding cilantro or tarragon for more bright herbaceous notes or increase the garlic if that's your jam. The sauce works great on almost anything from grilled vegetables and meat to white beans or breakfast tacos. Really, every time I make it, I end up adding it to all my meals for a few days. You can also eat "root to leaves" by topping a sliced radish and avocado rye toast with a drizzle! Recipe makes 2/3 cup.

Don't toss those beautiful radish greens!

• 2-3 (loosely packed) cups chopped radish greens, washed

• 1 medium shallot bulb, chopped

• 1 clove garlic, chopped

• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar

• Pinch salt

• 2 teaspoons olive oil

1. Heat about 1/2 cup water in small saucepan until simmering. Add radish greens, toss to coat, and cook until softened and dark green (about 30 seconds).

2. Remove greens and squeeze out excess water. Using an immersion blender or food processor, blend greens with shallots, garlic, rice vinegar, salt, and olive oil until combined, but still coarse. Drain excess liquid if needed and keep chilled up to 4 days until use.

The New Rider cocktail

When I lived in the lower Mission in San Francisco, I had a friend several blocks away and our halfway point happened to be Beretta. This busy Cal-Ital establishment is frequented for pizza, but we usually just went for the cocktails and my favorite standby was the The New Rider. There's just something about this drink - somehow, it manages to be classic, yet still unique, bright, but cozy and it always seemed to be exactly what I wanted. In light of that, I set about making it at home. With some help from the Beretta bartender and using what we had available we came up with something that if not exactly like The New Rider at Beretta, it definitely is good enough!

• 3 parts rye

• 1 part fresh lemon juice

• 1 part Grand Classico or maraschino

• 1 part ginger syrup

• 2 dashes Angostura bitters per cocktail

• 1 large sage leaf per cocktail

Shake all ingredients except sage with ice. Serve up with a large sage leaf that has been slapped between your palms (this part is very important - get into it!)